Course Description

LAW 214 - Civil Rights

This is a survey course intended to review both the causal and remedial relationship of law to racial discrimination. The material will provide a brief review of the historic development of race as a legal issue and will highlight past and current developments in housing, voting, and education. Throughout, we will attempt to identify the various competing visions of racial equality that are reflected in civil rights legislation, case law, and in the very definition of discrimination. We will also review various critiques of anti-discrimination law, paying special attention to those questioning the effectiveness of seeking racial reforms through law.